Home is Where the Heart Is
by heart2handgun
Summary: After a transfer from Boston PD, Jenessa Vaughn fights to make a name for herself in NYC. Only, she finds love along the way. Will it cause her to stray from her goal? FlackOC. DL & Smacked included.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N:**__ So this is my very first CSI:NY fic. For the longest time, I never knew this section was on here. I do now, and all that's been wracking my brain for the past week or so is starting this story. I do not own CSI:NY, nor do I own any of their characters, specifically Don Flack, Jr., Danny Messer or Lindsay Monroe. I do, however, own Jenessa Vaughn and the rest of the Vaughn family. I will be using some newer and older cases in this story. I may even make some up. _

_**Disclaimer:**__ I do not own CSI:NY or any of their characters. I do however own the Vaughn family and more specifically Jenessa Eve Vaughn. _

_**Home is Where the Heart Is.**_

**xXx**

_Change will come  
__Change is here  
Love fades out  
Then love appears_

Now my waters turned to wine  
And these thoughts I have  
I now claim as mine  
I'm coming home

_Reunion_ -- Collective Soul

**xXx**

_12 Months Earlier_

Loud music could be heard anywhere and everywhere in the spacious ballroom of the Omni Parker Hotel in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. A blushing bride and her groom were casually making the rounds to greet friends and family. Bridesmaids dressed in different shades of pink and groomsmen in black and white with a pink flower pinned to the lapels were living it up on the dance floor.

"Is that Danny Messer?"

The thick Boston accent didn't surprise him, nor did the laugh in her voice. Since moving away from Staten Island sixteen years earlier, the accent was something that came with her new territory. However, when Danny turned around, just the sight of the petite blonde was enough to take the air from his lungs. "Jen, you look amazing."

Red tainted her cheeks as she slowly moved towards the New York CSI. "Thank you," she offered simply, a gentle smile gracing her lips and her bright blue eyes twinkling. "You clean up nicely, Danny." Gesturing to the young child in her arms, Jen's vibrant eyes left his to look at the six month old. "Wanna hold Adele?"

"Kat's daughter, right?" Jen nodded. Danny held his arms out for the little girl in a pale pink dress, adorned with a white sash and bowtie across the waist. The young blonde handed the baby girl to Danny, who cradled her right away, a smile playing across his features. "So," he started, and tore his gaze from the baby, "how you holdin' up, J?"

She shrugged. "I love it in Boston, you know that," he nodded. "But sometimes, I just want to get the hell out of here. It's just the same shit, different day." Danny nodded again before returning his attention to the moving child in his arms. "What about you? How's New York?"

"I still love being there. The cases," he started, letting a sigh escape his lips. "some of them are from so far in right field, but those usually end up being the best."

Jen nodded. "Here, it's like, a huge majority of the homicide cases I work on are all the same. Some drug deal that went wrong and someone ended up dead."

Taking a glass of champagne from the waiter walking by them, the blonde shrugged. Danny pointed to a set of empty seats at a close table. The two headed over there, Adele still in Danny's arms, playing with the chain around his neck. "Have you been thinking about getting out of there?"

Vibrant blue eyes glanced at the older man quickly, as pink lips pursed together. "Yes and no. My family's here," she started, before placing a hand on Danny's knee. "Well, most of my family. I don't want to think about how hard it'll be if I decide to move away. I'm an aunt to nine kids, all of whom have seen me at least once a week since they were born."

"Maybe it's time for a change. Somethin' for you, J."

Moving her hand from Danny's knee to her niece's back, she shrugged. "I need a change of scenery. I just don't know where to go," she said, her eyes leaving the twosome in front of her to watch the married couple.

"Our crime lab has an opening." Her head flipped back in his direction, her eyes showing the confusion she was experiencing. "Think of it, J. How awesome would it be for the two of us to work together?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, Danny. I wasn't really thinking New York City. I was hoping for somethin' a little more quiet."

"In our line of work, J, quiet is boring." Again, the blonde pursed her lips and placed her hands in her lap. "Mac isn't looking to fill the spot right away. Just promise me you'll take some time to really think about this."

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Jen slowly nodded. "Yeah, I can do that for ya, D."

Eyeing the blonde in front of him, Danny pursed his lips, a trait that the two were identical in doing. "Jenessa, please. Just give us 'ole New Yorkers a chance. It's a way for you to get back to your roots."

"Danny, I moved here when I was ten. Sixteen years can change a lot of people. I barely remember our old neighborhood."

"I'll take ya back there, J. That is if I can get ya to come to NYC to meet the people I work with." She nodded and turned her attention back to Adele. The baby reached out for her aunt who quickly took her and cuddled Adele into her chest. "I know my folks miss you - all of you. Maybe we can get some family reunion goin' on in the next year."

A smile crossed the blonde's face. "That'd be awesome. Except now, it won't be just me and my two sisters and three brothers. They're all either married or engaged with kids. We'll have to see, Danny." The Staten Island native nodded and watched his cousin with her niece.

At twenty-six, Jenessa Vaughn lived for her job. A job in a city that never truly respected her. She was one of the first female Second Grade Detective Investigators in the Boston Crime Lab. However, the men she worked with barely acknowledged her for the first few years of working along side of them.

That was until she fought to find which one of them worked with a well-known drug dealer and caught the wrong side of her stiletto heeled boot -- with his face. Since then, the men she worked with knew not to piss the Staten Island born blonde off or else they could face the same fate as their friend.

But she was the youngest of six children for Gary and Sophia (Messer) Vaughn. And the only one that was not involved in a relationship at the moment. Her oldest brother, Brody, married his high school sweetheart, Caitlin, eight years ago and had four children; Deirdre, Collin, Brett, and Alexa. The oldest of the three girls in the family, Rochelle married a co-worker, Charles Frost, almost four years ago. The two had two daughters, Sydney and Daniela.

Seven and a half years ago, Jen's middle brother, Caleb married Melina, the mother of his two children, Marisol and Logan. Just six months ago, the middle Vaughn daughter, Katina, gave birth to Adele Kate, and had since started planning her July 2010 wedding to her boyfriend of seven years, Andrew Forrest.

And today, Jenessa acted as one of the four bridesmaids for the youngest Vaughn son, Mason and his bride, Lana.

Deep down, Danny Messer knew Jen wanted a big wedding - something she would joke about with her favorite cousin over the years they spent living two houses away from each other in Staten Island.

Throughout her life, Jenessa was always the tomboy. While Rochelle and Katina were glorified girly-girls, their younger sister never really caught on. She would always be found outside playing football or kickball with her brothers and cousins, Danny and Louie Messer. Even the job she did now wasn't one for people like her sisters, with all of the blood and gore she saw on a day-to-day basis.

But as much as Danny appreciated the light pink floor length gown she sported as part of the bridal party, he knew deep down she couldn't wait to rip the dress off and toss on a sweatshirt and jeans -- as well as her traditional heeled boot.

"Auntie Jen!" Knowing exactly whose tiny voice it was calling her, she offered the almost asleep child to Danny, who graciously accepted Adele. Jen turned towards the three year old running towards her, and held her arms out. "Auntie Jen!"

Marisol Grace bounded into her aunt's awaiting arms and clung close to her. "What's up pumpkin?"

"I'm tired."

Jen smiled and glanced towards her cousin, who was focused on getting the six month old in his arms to sleep. The blonde slid the little girl with bouncing brown curls onto her lap, leading the small head to rest against her chest. "Can you say _hi_ to Auntie Jen and Daddy's cousin, Danny?" Danny looked up and saw Marisol quickly wave to him, to which he responded to with a wave of his own.

"When's bedtime?"

The young girl glanced through thick eyelashes to her aunt, who pursed her lips and shrugged. Flattening the bottom of the girl's dress, Jen held onto her to make sure she wouldn't slip off of her lap. "Not too much longer, Miss Marisol. Momma has to get you and Logan to bed soon, so don't worry."

"Really soon?" the young girl asked, causing a laugh to escape Jen's lips.

"Yeah, pumpkin. Soon. Momma and Daddy are probably saying goodbye to Uncle Aiden and Aunt Lana now."

Marisol accepted the answer and began to lazily run her small fingers up and down her aunt's arm. "You're awesome with kids, J."

Glancing up at Danny as her short bangs fell in front of her right eye, Jenessa gleamed. The blonde couldn't wait to have kids. But with her job and short fallings with relationships, she was content with being an aunt to nine children ranging from seven years to six months.

"Such a natural."

Jen couldn't help the smile on her face. If it could get any bigger, it definitely would have. Of all things Jen loved to hear, it was always how well she handled her nieces and nephews. Granted, she had quite a few years of training, seeing as though her oldest niece, Deirdre, would be turning seven in just two weeks. But Jen had only been nineteen at the time. "Thanks, D." He answered with a nod and a simple smile. "How 'bout after the kids head out to bed, you and I go to a local bar?"

"With you dressed like that?"

Letting out a laugh, Jen shook her head. "Hell no. I only wore pink to make Lana happy." Tucking her bangs back behind her ear, she shrugged, taking a moment to turn away from Danny. "And speaking of the happy couple," she stated loud enough for the newly married couple to reach the table. Danny and the youngest Vaughn son, Mason, shook hands since the CSI was still holding the baby.

Mason introduced Danny and Lana before taking seats at the table. "It's good to see you, Danny."

"Yeah, you too, Mase," he replied, using the nickname that was very common around the Vaughn house in Staten Island. "And congratulations."

"Thank you," Lana stated simply.

Turning her attention from the three year old taking up residence on her lap, Jen licked her lips. "Are you guys heading out soon?"

Her brother nodded. "Yeah. Going to go spend our first night together."

"You mean as a married couple," Jen said, winking in her brother's direction. "You can't be in this family and actually take Mom and Dad's word about no sex before marriage seriously, Mase."

The siblings laughed together, Mason nodding. "Well," Lana started, as red rose in her cheeks, "we're on our way out. We just wanted to stop over and say hi." The bride placed a soft hand to Jen's arm. "And thank you. For everything you did to help me with this wedding."

Jen opened her mouth to say something, as her brother shook his head. "We mean it, Jenna." With the blonde, it was strictly Jen or Jenna. Maybe even Jenessa if she felt kind enough to allow it. But Jenny was never accepted. "And this is to show our thanks."

He handed her a simple black box. Once opened, Jen gasped at the simple silver chain adorned with two circles, one in diamonds and a smaller one in the middle in black diamonds. "Guys, you definitely didn't have to do this."

"We wanted to, Jen," Lana replied, a smile settling on her face. "I.. We couldn't have done this without you. And to help us out as much as you did with how stressful and busy your job is, this is just a small bit of the appreciation we have."

Being careful of Marisol on her lap, Jen gave her new sister-in-law a hug. "Thank you. It's gorgeous. Although that speech you had about me last night would have been good enough. It's been a while since I've laughed that hard."

The previous night, Mason and Lana gave a speech at their rehearsal dinner to thank their friends and family, most importantly their bridal party. However, they made sure of tossing in a few jokes at the expense of their brothers and sisters, knowing too well what would have happened at the wedding reception once the oldest Vaughn, Brody and Lana's younger sister, Eliza got on the microphone.

"Well, we're heading upstairs. We'll see you next week, Jenna." The blonde nodded in response to her brother before giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Once the married couple was out of earshot, Danny shot his cousin a confused glance. "Mason made it a priority of reminding everyone about how well I drink. Especially the night I graduated from the academy."

"I remember that night too fondly," Danny added with a laugh. "You were so trashed, J." This caused Jen to laugh as well. "Mason, Caleb and I had a bet on whether or not you'd get arrested for a D&D."

"I probably would have if it wasn't for the fact that my father is one of the top ranked police officers in Boston."

------------------------------------------

After reminiscing for another half an hour or so, Jen found herself in her hotel room fresh out of the shower and getting dressed to go out and get a few drinks with Danny. When she met him in the lobby ten minutes later with miniscule make-up, her damp hair in a ponytail tucked beneath a dark grey Ed Hardy cap, she was dressed in a black zip up hooded sweatshirt with B.P.D. written across the back, a pair of form-fitting dark blue jeans slipped into a pair of black suede knee high boots with a three inch stiletto heel.

"Ready, Danny?"

"To go out drinking? Always."

Once the two were situated at a bar in downtown Boston, watching the Boston Bruins game, drinking beer and eating peanuts, things seemed to mellow out. Though it had been four years since the two had really gotten a chance to hang out -- at yet another Vaughn child's wedding -- things were the same as they had always been.

For some reason when they were growing up, Danny and Jen had been the closest cousins. Danny would always get picked on for being best friends with a girl, but those kids who would make fun of him would change their minds after a swift ass kicking from Jenessa herself.

The blonde rid herself of her hat by placing it in her purple and black Dooney and Bourke linear edition Large Nikki bag. She shook her hair out of the elastic, only to throw it back up in a messy bun higher up on her head.

Excusing herself from a conversation -- though it had slowed down while watching the game on the flat screen in front of them -- to talk to a colleague who had just showed up, Danny turned to watch Jen for a moment. The way she held herself so professionally around the 6'2" blonde man -- whom she introduced at Doug Hanover -- while still letting go of some of her bounds that she held in at the precinct was astonishing to Danny.

The girl he grew up with, and spent many a weekend hanging out with even after her move to Lexington, Massachusetts, was known for spewing sexual innuendos and her quick tongue. But seeing her with a guy she worked with, she held herself together. There was a bit of the old Jenessa that Danny knew better than anybody else and the newer Jen that came from working in the Boston Crime Lab.

What really caught his eye was the ink on the back of her neck. When Doug walked away with a 'see you tomorrow, kiddo', Jen turned back to Danny and rolled her eyes. "I had to be nice. I can barely stand the guy, but I pushed my pride aside."

Danny smiled and found the Jen he knew and loved in front of him again. Granted, she had grown up quite a bit since both of their careers took over their lives and cut down Danny/Jen time. But to see the girl he grew up with flowing from her was so welcoming. "I see you have some new ink."

Jen smiled and nodded. "My twenty-third birthday present."

"How many do you have now?"

Taking a moment to think, Jen bit down on her lower lip a bit. "Four. That one, the sparrow on my foot from my high school graduation and eighteenth birthday." Turning away from Danny, she raised the back of her sweatshirt to show off the black script of _'del male non fare e paura non avere'_. "That was the one I got after I graduated from the academy."

"Italian?" he asked, leading to a nod from the blonde. "What's the meaning of that?"

Jen smirked and pulled her sweatshirt back down. "Do not harm and have no fear." Facing Danny again, she rolled up the left wrist of her sweatshirt. _Avere Fiducia._ "Have faith."

Danny pursed his lips before asking, "Did you get that after the shooting?" Jen slowly nodded before grabbing her bottle of Guinness and placing it to her lips. As she felt the liquid slide down her throat, she fought off images of May 23rd, 2007. A single .22 gunshot to her right clavicle left her inactive from duty for six months, three of which she spent pushing papers at her desk. "How are you doing after that?"

"Let's not ruin the mood to talk about that," she offered, a simple smile on her lips. She then called over the bartender to order another round for the twosome before turning back to the Bruin's game.

**xXx**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**: _Thank you to everyone who checked out the first chapter. Thanks go out to _**Hope and love, night-star-93, You can't rush science**,_ and _**Blue Eyed Author**_for their reviews._

**Disclaimer**: _As always, I do not own CSI:NY or its characters. I do, however, own Jenessa Vaughn._

_**Home is Where the Heart Is**_

**xXx**

_I remember clearly how you looked  
The night we met  
I recall your laughter and your smile  
I remember how you made me  
Feel so at ease  
I remember all your grace and your style_

_And now you're all I long to see  
You've come to mean so much to me_

_Chances are I'll see youIn my dreams tonight  
You'll be smiling like the night we met  
Chances are I'll hold you and I'll offer  
All I have_

_Chances Are -- _Martina McBride and Bob Seger

**xXx**

_Present Day_

It had been a quiet day. Quiet enough for the lovers to find a moment to spend together, although it had just been for coffee in the break room smack dab in the center of the New York City Crime Lab. However, they would take whatever they could get to spend some time alone.

Just to hear Lindsay ramble about the case she was currently taking a break from working on brought a smile to Danny Messer's face. The way she would roll her eyes at a perp's stupidity or how she would slowly but surely show aggravation over a wrong turn in the case made him realize how much he loved his Montana.

The moment was cut short when Danny's cell phone started to vibrate across the table next to his mug of coffee. _Jenna. _"'scuse me, Linds." The Bozeman native nodded her head and stood up to refill her coffee. "J, what's up?"

"Well hello to you too, Danny." He laughed at her response. "I was just curious about what my favorite cousin was up to."

Leaning back in his chair, he smirked. "I'm at work, J."

"Good."

He slipped his glasses off and placed them where his cell phone had taken residence just moments before. "Good?" he repeated.

"Yeah, 'cause, uhm," she started, before pausing to gather her words correctly. "I'm outside of the New York City Crime Lab."

Upon hearing the words through the phone, the Staten Island native sat straight up in his seat, causing his girlfriend to watch him with a raised eyebrow. "What do you mean 'outside of the New York City Crime Lab', Jen?"

Danny could just picture Jen at the moment. With a roll of her vibrant eyes, she would place a hand to her hip and smirk. "Just what it means, Daniel." Without giving Danny a chance to reply, she cut him off, "and I was really hoping that you could come meet me outside."

"J, I'm workin'."

"Uh, Danny," she started, a giggle starting in the back of her throat, "if you were 'workin', wouldn't you not be able to answer your cell phone?"

_Wise ass,_ he thought. "True." Glancing to Lindsay who was adding a package of Sweet 'n' Low to her steaming mug, he shrugged. "Give me five."

"That's all I ask, Danny. I'll be waiting."

When he disconnected the phone call, he slowly slid his glasses back on and stood from his seat. "What was all of that about?"

Choosing his words carefully, Danny started, "Jen - my cousin from Boston - is outside right now. And God only knows why."

"Danny, it's ten degrees outside. Get out there and see what's up."

Nodding, Danny started to slip past the petite brunette. As they passed, he slowly squeezed her hand. Showing affection at work was tough for the two to not do. Except that they knew if they did, or at least showed excessive affection, their jobs would very easily be on the line. "I'll be back in a bit. If anyone's lookin' for me," he started and raised his cell phone, "Tell 'em to give me a call."

She nodded and watched her boyfriend's retreating form as he slid past the open door.

**xXx**

"You waitin' for someone?"

Turning at the sudden voice directed at her, Jenessa found herself staring at possibly the most gorgeous eyes she had ever seen. "Uhm," she started, clearly stumbling over her words. She pursed her lips together and let out a breath. "Danny Messer."

"As in the off-the-market Danny Messer?"

Raising an eyebrow, she nodded. "The same one that happens to be my cousin? In that case, yeah."

The thick Boston accent brought a smirk to his lips. Sliding a gloved hand from the pocket of his pea coat, he held it out to shake the blonde's. "Don Flack."

A smile peaked out between two rosy cheeks. "Jenessa Vaughn."

The fact that he never let go of her hand was the least of her concern. It was the way his eyes never left hers that had her heart fluttering. He stepped just a bit closer to the blonde, who with her free hand pulled her black, gray and white plaid knee length coat closer to her body. "Dann-o never told me he had such an attractive cousin."

Just as Jen opened her mouth to speak, she was cut off. "Prob'ly 'cause he knew you'd act like this."

Flack let go of her hand, and watched as she quickly hid it in her pocket. "Hey Danny," Jen started, a simple smile on her face. Turning back to Flack in front of her, she tucked her neck further into her jacket and simple chunky black scarf. "It was nice meeting you, Don."

"You too," he stated before patting Danny on the shoulder. "I have to head in to talk to Mac. We still on for that one-on-one Saturday?"

Danny nodded. "Wouldn't miss it, man," he added with a smirk crossing his lips. "I'll see ya later."

Flack just bowed his head in a goodbye before heading for shelter from the cold. Danny turned back to his cousin, who had a bit of her bottom lip between her pearly white teeth. "He a close friend of yours?"

The CSI nodded again. "Yep. Detective Don Flack, Jr. One of New York's finest." _You've got that right,_ Jen thought, picturing his back end as he walked away from the family members. "What are you doin' in New York City?" He asked. A little too quickly, noting how hurt her eyes seemed to be an the question.

Hoping to lighten the mood, Jen faked a bright smile. "I moved here!" she offered, wishing that after two and a half decades of knowing each other he wouldn't be able to see right through her.

Smirking, Danny placed his hands in the pocket of his cargo pants. With the temperatures approaching sub-zero in the next few days, the Staten Island native sported only a black North Face fleece. "Wait a second. _You _moved to New York City?"

The blonde pursed her lips and nodded. "Yeah. Last month."

"And it took you a month to tell me?" Hesitating, she nodded again. "J, I could'a showed you around. Made sure some landlord didn't rip you off. I could'a--"

Laughing, Jen cut him off. "I'm a big girl, Danny. I can move to a new city and survive for a month."

Danny shut his mouth and shook his head. He was pretty sure Jen wasn't sold on the city when he brought it up at the wedding twelve months before, or during phone conversations between then and now. Needless to say, he was wrong. He knew the younger of the two loved big cities. The first chance she got, Jen was out of Lexington, MA and moved right into the heart of Boston. "What are ya doin' for money, J?"

"I have some saved up from workin' in Boston. And I'm kind of here to talk to a Mac Taylor about a job that I was offered."

It all made sense to him now. At a weekly meeting the day before, Mac had mentioned bringing someone new to the team. And he had looked directly at Danny as he spoke. Finally, everything clicked. "You're the new team member." It came out more of a statement than a question.

Jen only nodded. "Surprised?'

"Yeah." Surprised was an understatement. The two spoke on the phone at least once a week. And as far as he knew, they told each other everything. Except now he was beginning to question his cousin. "How come ya never told me you were gonna talk to my boss?" She shrugged. "I could'a put in a good word for ya, Jen."

"Maybe I didn't want you to," she offered. With her hands still in her coat, she shrugged again. "That's what Dad did for me in Boston. I needed a new start, and I wanted to do it myself in New York." Danny looked away from the blonde, who sighed. "You can't fault me for that, Danny," she stated, her Boston accent fully intact. "I had to do it myself. I appreciate that you wanted to help me, but please don't be mad."

"You could'a told me, and I would'a backed off. I.." He paused and turned back to be face to face with Jen. "I could'a helped you get used to the city."

A smile surfaced on the blonde's face. "You know me, Danny. It's not fun if I can't get lost."

"Let's head inside. It's fuckin' freezin' out here."

Jen nodded and slipped past Danny who followed her into the building. "You're not mad at me, are ya, Danny?"

He shook his head. "Nah." Jen let out the breath she wasn't aware she was holding. "So is it an interview with Mac?"

"Nope. I came in just before Thanksgivin'. He offered the job if I could start in the new year." Unwrapping the scarf from her neck, Jen slipped off the black beanie cap she was sporting. "So here I am." Danny nodded. "Can you show me to Mac's office, please?"

He nodded again before unzipping his fleece. "You up for some lunch after? You can meet some of the team then."

"Sure," she replied, a smile bright on her face. She was so glad Danny took the news as well as he did. Jen figured he would be a tad bit mad at her for not telling him sooner. But with apartment hunting, moving from state to state, getting the go-ahead to leave the B.P.D. and everything else she had going on, she figured he would understand. He always did.

The feeling of the NYPD Crime Lab was a lot different than in Boston. People were monotonous and boring. Too boring for her taste. It was always a sea of black and white clothes. But here, people were free to wear color without getting looked down upon for being too cheery while doing a dismal job. The atmosphere was bright and lively, unlike the fact that it was one hundred and ten percent about the job in Boston. There were no real personalities back there.

And when Danny told her about the two women on his "team" as they so eloquently put it, Stella and Lindsay, she got extremely excited. For once she wouldn't be the only woman in a group of guys. Sure there were women in the lab, but a seldom few in the field.

But looking around the building, she saw Don Flack walking out of Mac Taylor's office. He offered her a wink before turning down another hall.

Jen could already feel that she would fit in perfectly in New York.

**xXx**


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N**__: __Thank you to everyone who checked out the last chapter. Thanks go out to _Axellia, Hope and love, night-star-93, babygurl1944,_ and _Blue Eyed Author_ for their reviews. Also, sorry that this chapter took forever to get out. Between the fact that this was just a difficult and boring chapter to write and that I had to buy a new keyboard 'cause my old one decided to up and stop working properly (along the lines of hitting one key and getting like 3 other letters thrown in) and I have had like zero time to buy a new one, this is what came from my overly CSI'd brain. (I bought the third season on DVD and have been watching that whenever I have free time. PS. who also absolutely loved the last episode?)_

**Disclaimer**: _As always, I do not own CSI:NY or its characters. I do, however, own Jenessa Vaughn._

_**Home is Where the Heart Is**_

**xXx**

_But hold your breath  
Because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you  
Over againDon't make me change my mind  
Or I won't live to see another day  
I swear it's true  
Because a girl like you is impossible to findI  
t's impossible_

_Fall for You -- _Secondhand Serenade

**xXx**

Upon leaving Mac Taylor's office, Jenessa had a permanent smile fixated across her features. Thinking back to her interview at the Boston PD years ago, the majority of the questions Mac had asked her today hadn't even come up. All that her superiors in Boston cared about was whether or not she was like her father.

She was proud of her father for becoming such a decorated member of the department. Especially while raising six children at home. But she was going to be completely different. Her father always wanted to be in charge. The "head honcho" so to speak. Jen was content working under someone, in the lab and in the field. In her mind, she hadn't spent all that time in school with practically no social life to be like her father.

"So, what's up, J?" Placing a hand over her chest due to the sudden voice behind her, she turned around and glared at her older cousin.

However, her smile never faltered. "I start right now," she offered, a somewhat confused expression bubbling in her blue eyes. With one eye on her cousin, she tried her best to slip her badge onto the waist of her pants. The gun Mac issued her was already situated in the holster on her right hip. "Which is fine by me. The sooner I start, the less sanity I lose by sitting in my apartment."

Danny nods and approaches the blonde. "So you're really a member of the team?" She nods in response. Danny's reaction is to give her a tight hug.

The two family members have bright smiles on their faces as Jen wraps her arms around his chest. "I see you two found each other rather quickly."

The two Staten Island natives pulled away from one another to face their boss. "I called Danny a few minutes before I went in to meet with you. Figured I'd let him in on the surprise a little sooner than expected."

The former Marine smirked and nodded. "Danny, think you can show Jenessa," Jen's eyebrow rose in Mac's direction, "Jen, around?"

Danny pursed his lips and turned to his cousin, who in turn, looked back at him with wide bright blue eyes and a pout on her lips. "I guess." The answer brought a bright smile to the blonde's face who turned back to Mac.

He watched the interaction between the cousins and shook his head. "I don't even want to know. Thanks, Danny."

Danny nodded before throwing an arm over Jen's shoulder. The head of the crime lab stepped away from the twosome to head to autopsy. "So, Daniel, where to first?" the blonde asked, an excited expression taking over her features.

He could only laugh at her anticipation. "Got your locker number and code?" She nodded. "We'll head to the locker room first."

"Sounds good."

Danny pointed the way as the two blondes started in the direction of the locker room. "So, what made you decide to come to New York?"

The shorter of the two shrugged. "I couldn't stand Boston anymore." Danny raised an eyebrow at her. "Honest. I spent ten months comin' back from the shootin' and I was treated like a child the entire time we were in the field," she offered, and bit the corner of her lip. "It wasn't like I totally forgot everythin'. I knew, and know, how to do my job. But the guys in Boston treated me like a newbie. I couldn't take anymore."

"Understandable." Jen nodded and pursed her lips. There was definitely more to her reasoning to leave Boston, but she decided to give Danny a little while before blowing it all up on him. Her return from the shooting was her main reason. There, however, were smaller parts to the ultimate relocation. "You sure it wasn't 'cause ya missed me so much?"

Jen's infectious laugh bounced off the glass walls of the crime lab. "Really, Danny?" she asked, giggles still fumbling out of her mouth. "I mean, seriously. I love ya, 'cuz, but I was doin' good seein' ya every two or three years," the blonde joked. Danny placed his free hand over his heart to feign heartbreak. "I missed New York in general. And don't worry, D, you're a part of that to me."

Danny grinned. Her pushed open the door to the locker room and let his cousin into the room. "You're a big girl. Think ya can find your own locker?"

The blonde stuck out her tongue and shrugged his arm away from her shoulder. "I think I can manage." Thrusting the rest of the files Mac gave her during their 'meeting' at Danny, who took a seat on the bench by the door, she stepped up to the first row of lockers. She lucked out and found it right away. After typing in the code on the number pad next to it, she waited for the dull click to sound before opening it.

Jen slipped out her winter coat and hung it up in her locker. She unwrapped the scarf from her neck and slipped it, along with her hat, into her purse and tucked it beneath the coat. The blonde also slipped her gun out and locked it inside with her belongings, remembering that Mac told her not to carry it around the building unless she was just leaving or coming back from being in the field. Before closing the locker, she grabbed a bottle of Smart Water from her oversized bag and finally shut it, waiting again to hear the click.

"So this is where ya spend ya time catchin' up on ya beauty sleep?" she joked, heading back to where he sat with her elbows on his knees.

"Ya funny, J."

The blonde shrugged and waited for Danny to stand up. He passed her back the files in his hand and turned to the opening door. "Finally found ya, Danny."

"Hey Linds." Jen shifted the papers from her left to right hand and straightened the deep purple long-sleeved ribbed Henley top she was wearing to match with the black dress pants and black stiletto heeled boots she was sporting. Danny turned to face Jen, who had a smile plastered on her lips. "Linds, this is my cousin Jen."

"Jenna?" The blonde nodded and offered her hand. "Please. I feel like I know you enough for a hug instead of a handshake." Jen giggled as Lindsay pulled the taller blonde into a hug. "It's so nice to finally meet you. Danny talks about you all the time."

The two pulled away and the new NY CSI blushed. "All good I hope."

"For the most part, J," Danny stated and winked in his cousin's direction. "Montana, I'll catch ya in a little bit. I'm gonna go show J around the lab."

The blonde with the bob nodded and placed a hand to Jen's bicep. "How about we all go out for some drinks after work. Round up the 'crew' and hit up Sullivan's." She smiled and turned to her boyfriend, "See if our new girl can hold her own booze wise with the rest of the team."

Danny bit back a laugh. "Trust me, Linds, she can hold her liquor like no one's business." He offered a wink in the taller blonde's direction. "We've had a few nights where a little extra alcohol was consumed."

"Danny, let's not bring up the night I graduated from the academy. It was not completely my fault."

The only man in the room pursed his lips together and shrugged. "Nah, J. 'Cause someone def'nitely made you scream and dance around in the center of Lexington in nothin' but a bra and short shorts. No shit they almost hauled ya in for a drunken disorderly."

"That was one night, D. We're gonna leave it at that." Lindsay smirked at the two before proceeding to her locker, coincidentally the one next to Jen's.

"I'll catch ya in a bit, Linds," Danny offered as he approached the door to hold it open for the 5'6" blonde.

She waved the two cousins off as they walked out the door. "So, where to Danny?"

"I can either show ya the quickest route to autopsy, figured out by a one Mac Taylor. Or we can check out the labs up here and or your new office."

A little shocked, Jen responded with, "I get my own office?"

Danny shook his head. "Lucky girl, you get to share with me."

"And how did I luck out that much?"

The older of the two shrugged. "I think they just wanted to torture me." Danny offered the younger blonde a smile, who just glared at him, a slight smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "So what's up first, J?"

She pursed her lips together and thought for a moment. "Let's get my least favorite out the way. Autopsy."

Danny pointed the direction the two should take and laughed. "What? Don't like to start ya day with a little blood and guts?"

"Uhm, not really."

"Well, ya luck just ran out. We have some of the most gruesome crime scenes around here." As the arrived at the elevator, Danny pressed the down button and leaned back against the wall. "Just last week we had a triple homicide. Blood and brain matter everywhere. The perp didn't think of stoppin' after he stabbed each of 'em at least twelve or thirteen times."

Jen inwardly groaned. She could handle gruesome scenes every once in a while. She was just used to the straight up drug deal that went wrong and someone got shot and that was that. Only a few times since she joined the BPD did she deal with homicides of the extremely disgusting variety. "Oh joy."

Danny tossed an arm over her shoulders and took her the back way to the autopsy department of the building. The two were laughing and reminiscing on the walk down, though Jen was trying to map out in her mind how to get to and from autopsy from the thirty-fifth floor. "Danny, I don't have anything for you yet."

The cousins were broken out of their thoughts by Sid Hammerbeck discreetly looking up from the body on his table. A man in his mid-thirties, with a nasty gash across his forehead. "Nah, Sid, I'm not lookin' for results yet." Pushing Jen just so slightly in front of him, he smirked. "Just wanted to personally introduce you to the newest member of the team. This is my cousin, Jenessa Vaughn."

"Jenessa. That's a name I have not heard before."

The blonde shrugged. "My mom had a thing for not-so-popular names. Jennifer and Vanessa were too boring for her, so she just put them together," Jen added with a laugh. "But you can just call me Jen or Jenna. I'm only called Jenessa when I'm in trouble with the parentals."

Sid laughed. "Sid Hammerbeck." Glancing down to the body on his table he shrugged. "I'd normally be the first to shake your hand--."

"I can see that you're a little busy with him," Jen finished for the ME with a simple smile taking over her features. "It was really nice meeting you Dr. Hammerbeck."

"It's just Sid. We're like a family around here. Didn't Mac tell you we don't do formalities. Unless it's the top brass. Or my wife," he slipped in cautiously.

Jen giggled. "I'll remember to keep that in mind."

"We'll let ya get back to what ya were up to, Sid," Danny offered, pursing his lips. To be completely honest, autopsy was his least favorite part of the building. He could deal with the vic's where they were found. But when they were opened up for Sid to check out, it was a different story. "Give me a shout if you get anything on my friend there?"

The graying medical examiner nodded and went back to work as the two blondes left the room. "It's not that bad down there. I was thinkin' somethin' like back in Boston. Two confined rooms, minimal light from outside and all brick."

"We're kind of classy around here," Danny joked and brought her out to the elevators on the floor. "Next, I'll show you to our office and then take ya around to meet everyone else. Sound good?" Jen nodded as the doors to the elevator opened. There were two lab techs more than likely just getting to work in the back of the car as they stepped in. One, a medium built brunette was checking Jen out with a smirk on his face.

Jen just rolled her eyes and counted down until they made it one floor upstairs. When the doors re-opened on the thirty-fifth floor, Jen could not have been happier. The way the young brunette in the elevator was staring at her was beginning to give her the creeps. She knew people would check her out from time to time. However, most of them tried to be subtle about it. This guy, it seemed, did not have the word 'subtle' in his dictionary.

Jen stood to the side to wait for Danny as he typed a text message into his cell phone. "Are you the new CSI?" Slightly startled, Jen turned to the taller brunette woman standing behind her who offered her hand to Jen. "Jessica Angell. Or just Jess. Or Angell"

"Jenessa Vaughn." Adding on with a laugh, "Just Jen works."

The brunette smiled. "Are you from Boston?"

Jen nodded. "Not originally. I actually grew up in Staten Island. But sixteen years of living around Boston will change just about anyone's accent."

Angell smirked and nodded. "It was really nice meeting you. I have to head downstairs before I go pick up a perp. I'm sure I'll see you soon," she added before smiling in Danny's direction and heading onto the elevator.

"I see you met the department ho." Her eyebrow rose as she faced her cousin. "Long story. You'll learn it on ya own soon enough." Jen accepted his answer and followed as he waved her to follow after him. "Just know that you don't have to deal with her all that often. She's a homicide detective, so it's either her or Flack, sometimes Scagnetti, that'll work a scene with you."

-----------------------------------

Twenty minutes later, Danny and Jen sat in the employee kitchen/lounge on the thirty-fifth floor eating the lunch they had bought downstairs in the NYPD cafeteria. "Danny, Sid just gave me the run-down on our vic. Head wound was definitely cause of death."

The female voice coming from the doorway caused the twosome to turn in that direction. Danny swallowed the food he had in his mouth and nodded in the curly-haired brunette's direction. "Thanks, Stel. And by the way, this is the newest member of the team--."

Hating the fact that Danny felt the need to introduce her to everyone in the building including Adam and Hawkes already, Jen stuck her hand out in Stella's direction. "Jenessa Vaughn. But you can just call me Jen."

"Stella Bonasera. There's not really a nickname for that," she added with a laugh. "Really nice meeting you. Hopefully I can catch up with you a little bit." Jen nodded as Stella turned to Danny. "I just saw Mac. Since it's a pretty mundane case, Mac said Jen can join us on this one." Lifting the case files, mainly the copy of the autopsy report up, she pointed out of the room. "When you two are done, I'll be in the trace lab running over the vic's clothes again. I have a feeling I missed something."

Danny nodded and watched as Stella walked out of the room. His cell phone vibrated against his leg, causing the older of the two to take the phone out and check the text message he just received. "Lindsay already asked everyone if they wanted to head out tonight. They're all game. That is if you are."

"For a drink? Always," she stated, reminding the two of them what he had said after her brother's wedding a year before.

-----------------------------------

"Okay, so this is to Jen. From the most recent new member of the team to the brand new member, welcome. More specifically, welcome back to New York City," Lindsay toasted, causing the group around the table to clink beer bottles and wine glasses together.

On her left side, Danny sat with Lindsay right next to him. And on her right sat Stella, her leg wrapped around Mac's under the table as he sat at the head of the two tables they had pushed together. Next to Mac was Sheldon Hawkes with Flack and Angell pulling up the next two seats.

Sullivan's was a simple police bar located a block away from the lab. The team used it as a usual hangout after hours. Tonight, however, was an impromptu welcoming party for Jenessa. "Danny, ya up for a game of pool?"

"Of course, J." Looking across the table to his best friend being nearly suffocated by Jessica Angell, he added, "How 'bout we make it two on two. Me and Montana against you and Flack?"

Jen glanced in the homicide detective's direction, and saw it in his eyes that he needed to get away from the woman on his left. "Yeah. That sounds good. Flack, you up for it?"

He pursed his lips together and nodded. The four stood from the table and headed over to one of the two pool tables in the joint. Danny slid four quarters in to get the balls out as Jen set them at one end of the table. "Danny, I remember you tellin' me a story about a certain pool table at your apartment," Flack started, trying to get a rise out of his friend.

Danny turned to face Lindsay who was growing redder and redder by the moment. "Ya just jealous, Flack." Sarcastically, Flack nodded, all while rolling his eyes. "And c'mon, man. We have some virgin ears in this place," he stated, pointing in the five foot six blonde's direction.

Jen stepped around Flack to get to the opposite end of the pool table from where she just stacked the balls. "C'mon, Daniel. There's nothin' virgin about this Boston girl." Watching the tall brunette eyeing her up and down slightly, she winked in his direction. "So, boys, if we're just gonna talk about ya sex lives, just know that you put mine to shame. Just like I'm puttin' ya to shame in pool, Danny."

-----------------------------------

Almost a dozen beers later, Jen was retelling stories of times in Boston. More specifically happier times before the shooting. She could tell that her new co-workers were very open to hearing about her past, most importantly her reasoning for leaving "Beantown", but she wasn't ready yet. A year ago, she had just gotten over the fact that she had a bullet lodged in her shoulder.

But sitting in Sullivan's bar she wasn't exactly ready to tell five strangers. Danny knew all about the shooting. He even took a week of vacation time to spend with his cousin as she started on the course to rehab two weeks after the shooting took place. Mac Taylor only knew about it because it was a part of her work files. She had returned one hundred percent to the field eight days after Mason and Lana's wedding.

It took until five months later to realize that even though she was ready to be back in the field, interviewing, interrogating and chasing perps, she wasn't ready to work with the same people who walked by her laying in a pool of her own blood. A young uni by the name of Derrick Cook was left to wait with the blonde for EMS. He had pulled her out of direct line of vision from where the rifleman was perched, ready to shoot again.

He had stayed with her until the paramedics arrived, and even went with the lone female on the raid to Mass General.

By spending the day with Danny and Stella, and the past four hours with the group together at the bar, she knew they would have her back. That much she wasn't afraid of. She was just concerned about how they would feel when she finally told them her story. About how tough it was to look the people she worked with in the eye because they just left her laying there. About the six months it took to return to the field. About how, even until she put in her thirty days in the beginning of October, people still questioned whether or not she could do her job properly.

Mac and Stella had retired close to an hour before, with Hawkes and Angell not far behind them -- going in separate directions. Lindsay was leaning against Danny, stifling a yawn. Danny placed a kiss to the side of his girlfriend's head. "We're gonna head out, J. Want a ride?"

She shook her head. "I've been to your apartment. It's the complete opposite direction of my place. I'm just gonna grab a cab," she added, her vibrant blue eyes twinkling. "Thank you, though."

Danny and Lindsay stood from the table, as the Montana native struggled to get into her jacket properly. "Lemme know when ya get home, though, J. Toss me a text message or somethin'." She nodded in her cousin's direction as he walked, hand in hand, with his girlfriend out of the bar.

"And then there were two."

Jen smirked in Flack's direction. "I'm gonna be outta here in a few, too. It's been a long day."

"What? Didn't have 'long days' in Boston?"

She shook her head. "We had long days," she said. "Just most of the time we didn't have impromptu parties afterwards."

"It's just Monroe's way of welcoming you to the team. It's not exactly what we did when she was new." Jen sent a quizzical look in his direction. With a smile, he took a sip of his beer before starting. "Her first case was at the zoo. Long story short, she spent the afternoon sifting through tiger dung."

"The oh so glamorous side of our job." Jen took a sip of her Guinness, finishing it off and adding it to the collection of the table from the past four hours. "I had all the dirty jobs in Boston. 'Cause I was the only woman on my team. Felt like I knew every dumpster in a ten block radius in downtown Boston. At least the ones in the North End weren't that bad."

She stifled a yawn with her forearm and fought to keep her eyes open. "Let me give ya a ride home." Again, she sent him a confused look. "I know the cab drivers in this city. They can't wait to pick up a beautiful, drunk girl. Especially one that's relatively new to the city."

"Thank you, Don. But I'm good. I should get going."

She stood from the table and had a bit of a problem balancing her weight on the stiletto heels she was wearing. "That's it. You can't even stand up from the table without almost fallin' over. C'mon, I'll take ya home."

"And how do I know _you _won't try to put the moves on me like those cabbies you were talkin' about?"

"Honestly? I don't know. 'Cause with a woman as attractive as you, it's kind of difficult." She winked in his direction before slipping on her jacket and grabbing her purse from the ground. "Ready?"

She nodded and followed him out of the bar towards his car. It was only ten thirty, but with the day they had in the lab, she found herself becoming extremely exhausted. Once in his car and giving Don her address -- no directions since he knew the city like the back of his hand -- their conversation lulled into a peaceful quiet, with the music from the radio playing through the speakers at a soft tone.

To break up the silence, Jen's Blackberry alerted her of an incoming text message. "Danny keepin' tabs on ya?"

She giggled and shook her head. "Nope. Score to the Boston Bruin's game. They beat Carolina 5-1."

"You're a hockey fan?" The blonde nodded before resting her head back. "I'm likin' ya more and more by the second."

"Sweetheart, I'm too good for you," she said, stumbling over her words, and mixing them with her infectious laughter. Fifteen minutes later, Flack parked his car in front of her building complex, and killed the ignition. "I can take it from here myself. Thank you, Don."

"No one calls me Don."

"Well, I'm not really big on callin' people by their last names." She pondered on an idea for a moment before a bright smile beamed across her lips. "From now on, you're Blue Eyes," she started, her Boston accent becoming stronger as the alcohol fully kicked into her system. "So, thank you, Blue Eyes, but I am capable of walking myself up to my apartment. I'll catch ya tomorrow?"

"You'll catch me in thirty seconds when we both get out of this car and I walk you up to your apartment. What kind of gentleman would I be if I let you stumble inside on your own?"

She giggled. "Probably the same kind of 'gentleman' you were when you were checkin' my ass out when we were playin' pool."

He shook his head and stepped out of the driver's side of his car. As he helped the tipsy blonde up to her apartment, he knew there was something special about this girl. He didn't care why she moved from Boston. Don Flack was just glad that she did.

**xXx**


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N**__: __Thank you goes out to _Blue_Eyed_Author _for being the only person to review the last chapter. I had well over one hundred hits, but only one review. By the way, if anyone was wondering, Jenessa is based on Malin Akerman (Tess from 27 Dresses). And for the story's sake, I'm changing real life ages (since I can't find anywhere that says how old they are on the show). Donnie will be the same age, 31. Danny will be 32 instead of 35 and Lindsay will be 30 rather than 37. _

**Disclaimer**: _As always, I do not own CSI:NY or its characters. I do, however, own Jenessa Vaughn. Also, I do not own this crime scene as it was used on CSI:NY. I just thought it would be a good start for Jen._

_**Home is Where the Heart Is**_

**xXx**

_While Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters  
Sons of bankers, sons of lawyers  
Turn around and say good morning to the night  
For unless they see the sky  
But they can't and that is why  
They know not if it's dark outside or lightFor the people I have found_

_This Broadway's got  
It's got a lot of songs to sing  
If I knew the tune I might join in  
Oh, and go my way alone  
Grow my own  
My own seeds shall be sown in New York City_

_Subway's no way for a good man to go down  
Rich man can ride and the hobo he can drown  
And I thank the Lord  
For the people I have found  
I thank the Lord_

_Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters -- _Mandy Moore

**XXx**

The only sounds in the Avalanche were the radio and the voice of the dispatcher over the scanner. Danny drove and Jen sat in the passenger seat, slightly eager to truly begin her work with the team. The case she helped Danny and Stella on was just that -- something to _help _on. This one, she got to be a part of from the very beginning.

As they rounded the corner towards Bamfield's Bridal Shoppe, Jen made sure she had everything ready for when they got out of the vehicle -- again. 'J, just chill."

She turned to her cousin and offered a sweet smile. "I am _chill,_ Danny. Just anxious. Sooner we get this case out of the way, the sooner I feel more at home here. You know how the first case is."

"This ain't your first case, though."

Jen rolled her eyes. "Thanks, Captain Obvious. But it's my first case in New York City." Playing with the two intertwined rubber bracelets on her right wrist, she shrugged. "I just want to make a good example."

"You made an awesome example on the Peter Cahill case the other day when you helped Stel and I." He pulled up a few yards away from the crime scene tape and stopped the car. "You single-handedly pointed out a break in the case. If ya hadn't been on the case, we may have never put together all the pieces properly. Hell, we could still be workin' on it."

Shrugging off her cousin's comment, the twosome slipped out of the car. A uniform standing by the tape lifted it for them, all while checking out Jen's backside. As they walked into the dress shop with their kits in hand, Flack met up with them close to the rear of the store.

"I've heard Running of the Bulls was dangerous. But Running of the Gowns?" Danny asked, raising an eyebrow as they took in the sights of the bridal shop.

"It's the biggest sale of the year," came a voice from behind them. The two,

along with Flack, turned back to see Stella walking towards them. "Designer gowns. Slashed prices. Need I say more?" she said as more of a statement than question. Flack shrugged and headed off to talk to some witnesses.

"I've been to quite a few of these sales myself back home," Jen stated, a smirk taking over her face. "The joys of being a part of a bridal party."

Danny shook his head as he set his kit down, along with Jenessa's, and headed over to the body. "She's got an mp3 player, fresh sweat on her clothes. Looks like she went for a jog instead of bargain shopping."

"She's not dressed for the sale," Flack stated as he walked back to the group, a pair of pink bunny ears in his hand. Jen had to fight off the urge to make a comment about how they weren't his color. "I just found out it's a tradition for groups to wear odd things so they can identify each other in their pursuit of happiness."

"I've had my moments at the sales." Speaking mostly to Danny, she added, "For Rochelle's dress shopping, we all went as cowgirls. Pretty pick cowgirl hats and all." Danny just snickered and shook his head again. "And for Melina, Caleb's wife, we dressed up like Baywatch babes. Needless to say, it was the middle of January and being stuck outside was not how I wanted to spend my Saturday."

"I would'a paid to see that."

Both Jen and Danny sent Flack looks; Jen's more interested in seeing if he was going to continue the thought, Danny's more like he was going to shoot him then and there for even suggesting something like that about his cousin. "Back to the case at hand. See anyone dressed like her?"

"Not yet."

Jen crouched down beside the body to better examine the slice on her arm. "Any witnesses?" Stella asked before approaching Jen and the body.

He nodded. "A few people saw her fightin' with that woman," he pointed behind him to a visibly shaken blonde with blood on her undergarments, "over a dress. Her name is Marie Lowe."

"Could be the dress right here," Danny offered, holding up the bloody end of a very intricate wedding dress. The beadwork at the top of the gown was soaked in fresh blood.

Stella shook her head at the scene. "Some women dream their whole lives for that killer dress." Danny turned to Jen and rolled his eyes, causing a smile to take over the blonde's features.

Flack took off again to speak to Marie, leaving the three CSI's to continue to examine the body before the ME arrived. "There's an odd shaped cut in the palm of her right hand." Danny held her hand palm up to show the women with him.

"I think this is the cut that killed her," Jen stated, after getting a better look at the gash to her right bicep. "Looks like one of the stones on the bodice of the dress severed the brachial artery."

Stella nodded and also crouched down to the body's level. "She would have bled out in less than two minutes." Jen nodded before standing back up to grab the camera by Danny's kit. After taking a few photos of the body the way it was, Stella and Danny rolled the body onto her side to get a better look at her back. What the found instead of blood, was a partial marathon number pinned to her vest. "I'll be right back." Stella backed away from the body to search for the rest of the number.

"So our vic is Laurel Downs. She's twenty-eight years old. I found an ID and a couple of power bars. No cash. No credit cards," Flack rambled off as he held the ID card between a tissue due to the fact he wasn't wearing gloves.

Jen continued to check out any other things on the vic that they missed as Danny stood up. "Who would come to a sale without any money?" Danny asked, fully confused.

Flack only shrugged and glanced over his shoulder to Marie Lowe who is being comforted by her fiancé, Collin Clark, who just showed up while the homicide detective questioned her. "What are we thinkin'?" he started before turning back to the two at work. "Is Marie our Bride of Frankenstein or was this just some bizarre accident?"

Danny placed a hand to his hip and glanced back at the body of the ground. "I'm votin' for an accident. Under suspicious circumstances."

"How's that?" Flack asked.

"Well, for beginners. She's got jogging clothes and no money," Danny began.

Jen continued for her cousin, "And no engagement ring. Who comes to a dress sale -- a wedding dress sale -- if they're not engaged?"

Flack pursed his lips and scoured the building with his eyes. "Maybe the guy she's marryin' is cheap." He shrugged. "Or she's optimistic."

"She was not here for the Running of the Gowns," Stella declared as she returned to the main part of the scene. In one hand, she held up the rest of Laurel's marathon number. "She was in the middle of the race."

"Are we thinkin' this was a sale she just couldn't pass up?" Danny asked, knowing no one really had the answer to the question.

------------------------------------------

"So, how are ya likin' NYC so far?"

Jen glanced over the center console at the homicide detective who offered to give her a ride back to the lab. Stella had been given a ride to the scene by Mac who was off at his own, leaving Danny to offer the brunette a ride back with him and Jen. That was until Flack offered to give her a ride. She shrugged. "It's not new to me. The city at least. The Crime Lab here is very new, however. So if that's what you're tryin' to ask, I really like it."

Flack nodded and grabbed the cup of steaming coffee from the center console. Knowing that once they got back to the lab, the two would be bombarded with work on the new case, Flack offered stopping at Starbuck's on the way. She declined, and said they could get something to drink, only if they stopped at Dunkin' Donuts instead.

With a laugh and a smile, he agreed and pulled into the closest Dunkin's to the lab. "This case. There's just somethin' about it, ya know? It seems like an accident, but I feel that there's more to it."

"I go into just about every case thinkin' that there's more than meets the eye," he started. "It's a pleasant surprise when there isn't." The two settled into a comfortable silence, something that happened when they were in the car together. Neither felt the absolute need to have to talk. The silence worked wonders for them. Jen had things she didn't want to talk about just yet, and if they had to find something to talk about, she feared those things would jump right out of her mouth.

"So how long have you worked for the NYPD? You seem pretty young to be as high up as you are now."

He smiled. "Ten years. Give or take a month or two," he replied as he slipped his extra large coffee back into the cup holder. "What about you? How long were you with Boston?"

"Almost five years." She smirked at a memory of her high school graduation. "I was one of the youngest people in my high school class. I graduated at seventeen, went right into college that summer taking courses to get my core classes out of the way. And that fall I started at Suffolk University." Jen pursed her lips and grabbed her own coffee and just held it while speaking. "I threw myself right into school, which I don't really regret. Most people my age are pretty much just starting out."

At Don rolled to a stop for a red light, he watched her out of the corner of his eye. "So how old are you exactly?"

"Didn't your mother ever teach you that it wasn't nice to ask a woman their age?"

He shrugged. "I never really listened to what my mother taught me," he offered with a grin and a wink.

She giggled. "Twenty-seven. I'll be twenty-eight in September."

"Youngest member of the team," Flack added with a smirk. Jenessa shrugged. "It's not a bad thing, though. You know what'cha doin', something even older members of the lab and the precinct don't know."

"I know that feelin'. In Boston, we had a lot of people joinin' the lab." She paused and took a sip of her coffee. "A lot of 'em watched the crime shows on TV and decided, 'Hey, y'know what, I can do that,' and came in and screwed everything up." The blonde shrugged and placed her coffee back in the cup holder. "Thinkin' just because they saw it on television that they could do it right away."

Jen laughed at the thought and brought a smile out of Flack. Her laugh was just so infectious. The way it bounced around the vehicle made it difficult for the homicide detective to even think about the case at hand or the caseload on his desk.

"It's fuckin' nonsense." Flack let out a laugh as the swear rolled off her tongue. "What? You think I don't swear?" She turned to face him with an eyebrow raised. "I'm from Boston, darling. I swear like it's my first language."

"Glad to know," he teased. "Just a girl like you," he started and shook his head before pulling to a stop yet again in traffic, "ya don't seem like the swearin' type."

Jen didn't know if it was a compliment or an insult. "And what is the type of woman that would swear?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. Just not... you." Turning to face her, he offered a smile. "You seem like the girl next door. The cute, flirty blonde that you'd find washin' her car in just a bikini for fun. I don't know."

"I bet you'd like that, huh, Detective Flack?" His ears started to turn a shade of red as he faced away from the grinning blonde. "It's okay to admit it, Blue Eyes." She grabbed the Styrofoam cup of coffee and licked her lips. "If it helps you, I find you quite attractive. So if you want, you can just tell me how you feel about me."

The brunette shook his head, a smirk crossing his lips. Glancing back the road in front of them, a relieved feeling took over his body as he saw a quicker route to the precinct. "I'm a red-blooded male, Jen. Of course I find you attractive."

"But," she began, "I can sense a 'but' comin' up somewhere."

He grinned at her Boston accent. The fact that "r's" were barely a part of her vocabulary brought the smile to his features. "I don't date girls I work with," he stated.

"Whoever said I wanted to date you?" she asked. "I think you're extremely good lookin'. Never said a thing about dating."

He pursed his lips together and nodded. "Well that solves that, then, huh? We find each other attractive but we won't date each other." Pulling into the parking lot of the precinct, he shut the car off and stepped out with her. "You head up and have fun with your scientific formulas and machines and such. Call me if there are any breaks in the case?"

She nodded and offered him a smile as he held the door open for her. "Of course. I'll see you later, Blue Eyes," she stated before heading for the elevator.

------------------------------------------

Glancing up from the autopsy report in her hand, Jen opened the door to the AV lab where Danny was stationed for the time being. "So I just got a call from autopsy. There were no defensive wounds of Laurel Downs' body and the wound on her arm matched the wedding gown." Closing the door behind her, Jen stepped up to the counter where Danny was working. "Sid is officially ruling this an accident."

Danny only shook his head at the news. "Nah. We might want to hold off until I show you this," he stated and pointed to the screen in front of them. "First of all, I found the GPS in the vic's sneaker, which transfers data to the mp3 player on Laurel's arm." As he said each part of the sentence, Danny held up the sneaker and then the mp3 player from the scene. "So I got a list of her workout and her mileage for the last three months."

Stella, who had heard the last few bits and pieces of Danny's findings since she walked in the room just a moment after Jenessa, padded towards her fellow CSI's. "It looks like the 5k she was entered in. Why someone would be out running a race in the middle of January is beyond me. But whatever floats their boat, right?"

The cousins nodded, with Jen rolling her eyes at the idea of even wearing what Laurel was sporting in the colder temperatures. "It is the course of the race. She started, she stopped, and then went into the bridal shop," Danny stated, and typed something into the computer to show where the store was on the course.

"And she stopped around the corner from the entrance to Bamfield's. So what did she that made her quit in the middle of the race and go inside?" Jen asked, truly perplexed by the question.

After analyzing the course outline, Danny nodded his head. "Here's an answer," he started, before typing more into the computer, causing the outline to zoom in on Bamfield's, mainly where the line of brides-to-be was located. "The line of wannabe brides started around the side of the building, and Marie Lowe was one of them."

"And the witnesses said Laurel only attacked Marie Lowe," Stella said.

"She had intent," Jen continued. "Did these two know each other?"

Danny shook his head. "Laurel Downs was from Jersey," he said, leading to a smirk from Jen at the way he said 'Jersey'. "She's single and owns an antique store. Marie Lowe lives in Manhattan and owns a night club." He shrugged. "As far as I can tell, their paths have never crossed. But there is one thing I found while reading into our vic a little more."

------------------------------------------

"Laurel Downs was raped eight years ago by the same man who raped and killed Eleanor Ravelle," Stella said as she reclined in the chair in the team conference room. Mac, Lindsay and Hawkes were working on the case of a subway musician, Eleanor Ravelle, who was killed by a rapist that terrorized a part of the city eight years ago, before taking a hiatus and suddenly killing a victim the night before.

"Same M.O.?" Mac asked.

Danny nodded. "Yep. Identical bruising. Case file said she was attacked in her apartment. The guy made her bathe," he listed, a disgusted scowl crossing his face. "No DNA was left at the scene," he concluded.

"It's a really strange coincidence that we recovered two victims within twenty-four hours that were both raped by the same man," Stella stated and crossed her arms over her chest.

Jen looked back and forth between the main three people in the room speaking. Lindsay sat across from her next to Danny, showing a bit of how repelled she felt with the cases. "And what's even stranger than that is that they were raped eight years apart."

"Yeah, but coincidences happen," Jen began. "John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on the same day exactly fifty years after signing the Declaration of Independence."

Danny rolled his eyes at his cousin. After knowing her for twenty-seven years, he was used to the off-hand remarks she would randomly say. To say that she had random knowledge stored away in her mind was a complete understatement. "Stella?" Mac asked.

She raised her hands in mock surrender. "I hear ya, Mac."

"These are two crimes that happened in two different parts of the city. Two different victims who died in very different ways," he stated and started to gather his things to get ready to leave the conference room. "So unless we can uncover concrete evidence that can link these crimes," Mac continued and shrugged, "we focus on the individual cases as they stand now."

He picked up his files and started out of the room, followed by Stella. "1975. A man was driving his moped in Bermuda. He was struck and killed by a taxi. One year later, his brother was killed the exact same way. Same taxi, same driver. Even same passenger. It's a true story," Lindsay stated before reclining in her chair with a grin on her face.

Danny shook his head and gave her leg a light squeeze under the table. "C'mon Jenna. We have some work to do on this case." The blonde sighed and nodded before standing up from the comfortable chair. "Know what? Let's go grab some grub first. I'm starving."

She rolled her eyes. "Why am I not surprised?"

------------------------------------------

After a quick stop to the cafeteria downstairs, and a brief run-in with Detective Flack, Jen and Danny were located in the staff lounge looking over photos from the scene. Jen focused mainly on the perimeter and areas surrounding Laurel's body as Danny concentrated on the cuts on her palm. "Nothin' seems out of the ordinary about this place," Jen began as she continued to flip through the photographs. "Wedding dresses tossed in every direction is very indicative of a sale like this."

"That may all seem fine and dandy, but these cuts. They just don't add up."

Pushing away the Styrofoam container her food was placed in, Jen grabbed her bottle of Smart Water sitting in front of her. "Then let's go with that. How 'bout we--," she started, only to be cut off by Danny exiting the lounge with a determined look crossing his face. "Or not," the blonde concluded as she gathered hers and Danny's trash from the table and getting rid of it.

With her bottle of water in one hand, she left the room and took off in the direction Danny had just went in moments before. She found him typing at a computer in the trace lab. "I just had a thought about what these cuts could be," he offered as she walked into the lab. "We thought they were caused by different weapons or such. I just thought that maybe it was all the same thing."

Jen nodded and pulled a stool up to the counter. "Good thinkin', Danny." Within moments, a beep came from the computer signaling a match.

"The cuts on Laurel's hand come from something with this design," he stated, pointing to the monitor.

Glancing to the screen in front of her, Jen crossed her arms over her chest. "Scroll and flourish," she stated. "It's usually used in Victorian architecture, art," the blonde listed.

"Clothing, jewelry," Danny concluded.

Suddenly, it all made sense to Jenessa. "The woman Laurel attacked in the

store, Marie Lowe. She was wearing an ornate necklace." Turning from her cousin back to the screen, she grinned. "It matches that pattern."

Danny did a little more work on the computer, bringing up a few more screens of things they had already decided on. "Alright. So the line for the sale began around the corner of the building, right?" Jen nodded. "Laurel Downs was in

the middle of the 5k." Jen nodded again, not exactly sure of where he was going with the thought. "She had to have seen Marie in line. Followed her into the story."

Excited, Jen continued, "That's why she had the cuts on her hand. She was reaching out for that necklace." Reaching out for her water bottle, she shrugged. "But why?"

Danny grabbed the case file from the counter and nodded his head, realizing something he read earlier about the vic could come back to help the case. "Whoa, whoa, whoa," he whispered as he flipped through the pages of the file. "Boom."

"What's up, D?"

Placing the file down on an empty table behind them, Danny pointed out a specific report Laurel Downs had filed almost eight years ago. "Laurel's rape report. Says that the rapist stole jewelry from her."

Playing with the chain around her neck, Jen pursed her lips. "So did the necklace around Marie Lowe's neck belong to Laurel Downs?"

"I think you have a road trip comin' up."

Jen nodded and grabbed her water from the counter before leaving her cousin with a smirk on her face. Pulling her Blackberry from her pocket, she searched through her contacts for a certain someone. Once the number was selected and the phone was ringing, she placed it to her ear. "You up for a road trip?"

------------------------------------------

Jen smirked at the Queens native sitting in the driver's seat as they pulled up to Club Cubric in lower Manhattan. Thinking to herself that it had been quite some time since she had been to a club of this variety, a laugh escaped her throat as the twosome exited the car. "What's so funny, Boston?"

Glancing over at the homicide detective, she offered a smile at the nickname. "Just realized that it has been a while since I've been to a place like this."

"No clubbing back home?" She shook her head, causing the smaller layers of her hair to fall out of her loose ponytail. "I don't believe ya."

"Last time I was at a club was my twenty-fourth birthday. What about you? You never went clubbing?"

He laughed. "In high school at those eighteen and under joints around the city. Used to think I was the shit."

Jen rolled her eyes. "No going out to a club for your birthday?"

The homicide detective shook his head. "Nah. Usually hit up Sullivan's or the like."

"Maybe we'll have to change that this year."

"A few days too late." She turned to him with her eyebrow raised. "My birthday was a week ago."

She pursed her lips together and thought up a plan. "Then I guess we're going to celebrate a few days late." It was his turn to look at her like she was crazy. "After this case is over and done with, we're going to celebrate your birthday."

He shook his head. "No point. It's only my thirty-first."

"Nonsense. We're going to celebrate. Not the usual way either."

The brunette raised an eyebrow as the two started towards the brick building. "And what are you thinking?"

She beamed. "That's for me to know and you to find out."

He shook his head. "That's incentive to solve this case." She giggled as they reached the bouncer outside the club.

"There's a line to get in," he informed them, not too pleased with their attire either. With Don in a suit and tie and Jen wearing a black t-shirt with a blue plaid vest over it and a pair of black dress pants, they didn't exactly fit the style of the club.

Jen removed her badge from the waist of her pants and held it in the much taller man's face. "What about now?" she asked, her lips pursed together and batting her eyelashes.

He unclipped the rope to let the two by, receiving a glare from the patrons to the side of him. "Use that move back home?"

She laughed. "A few times," the blonde added, while shrugging her shoulders. "Only when I had to."

Flack spotted Marie Lowe a few yards away from them speaking to Collin Clark about the club. Every which way were dancers on tables dressed as sluttish maids and men walking around as butlers, just with the uniform a little more sexy than the average butler, working the floor and the bar. "Miss Lowe," Don called out over the music as they neared the blonde with her fiancé.

"Detectives. What can I do for you?"

Jen plastered a smile on her face. "We're wondering about your necklace. Where you got it, more specifically."

Marie smiled in her fiancé's direction. "I gave the necklace to Marie," the brunette responded.

"It was one of the first gifts he ever gave me. I love it," she gushed, running her hand over the metal.

"It's beautiful," Jen complimented. "Scroll and flourish?" she asked as Collin turned to a worker for a second. Marie nodded ecstatically.

Flack smirked as he looked around at the scenery. "So you manage Club Cubric?"

"Marie and I own it," Collin replied

The smile never left the blonde in question's face. "We added a little spice to the family business," she added with a laugh. "Collin's mother was a maid, my father used to be a butler."

Jen nodded and pursed her lips. "When did you buy Marie the necklace?"

"About five years ago," the brunette guessed.

"Where?" the homicide detective asked, loudly over the blasting music.

Collin only shook his head. "Around Union Square, I think."

Jen smiled in Marie's direction as she grabbed a tissue from her pocket. "I'd like to see it, please." Marie nods and moves her hair out of the way as she turned to Collin to remove it for her.

"If I showed you a picture, do you think you could recognize the guy who sold it to you?" Flack asked Collin.

He shrugged. "It was a long time ago," he stated and fixed his gaze on the photo of Trey Fager, another subway performer, in Flack's hand. Flack and Angell had questioned Fager earlier in the day for the second time, and he only confessed to stealing the guitar from Eleanor Ravelle. "Hair was a bit longer, I think. Can't be sure," he added.

"We'd like to take this," Jen started and held up the necklace in the tissue, "with us."

"Sure," Marie responded. "However we can help."

Jen slipped it all the way into the tissue and then into her pocket. "Thank you," Jen offered before nodding to Flack. The two stepped away from the engaged couple and headed back out to the car. "Well, that was fun."

Flack shrugged. "Any more clues on this birthday celebration." Jen shook her head vigorously. "C'mon, Boston. You know ya wanna tell me." She just placed a finger in front of her lips to tell him that she wasn't going to say anymore. He winked in her direction, only to receive a roll of her vibrant blue eyes. "Trying to be a tough ass Boston girl, now?" he teased.

"I'm not tryin'. I am one," she countered as they reached the car. Flack flicked off the lock so the two could get in.

Instead of going to his side, he followed her to the passenger side and opened the door for her. "I wouldn't mind seein' ya in one of those outfits," he whispered into her ear before circling the car to his side.

She was still in the same spot when he opened his door and looked over at her. He winked at her before slipping into the car to turn it, and the heat, on.

**xXx**


End file.
